Primary Navigation

Expectation vs. Reality

Written byNajwa Salsabila Azmi

Before I joined The Picha Project, I thought that working at Picha Project will be similar to working at other companies due my lack of knowledge of how a social enterprise operates. Starting from the day I was interviewed until my very first day of internship, I was still confused – my expectations were unclear, I was nervous, and there were a lot of questions on my mind as I was walking to the office. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get along with the team and this was my major concern.

But all my expectations and fears were proved wrong after almost two weeks of internship at Picha Project, and there has never been such an eye-opening experience for me before. I have always dreamt to help refugees because I could not stand watching them suffer through the media and I have always said to myself – if I am to wait for others to help them, I am nothing but an ignorant and selfish human being. Through Picha, I got to understand more about the refugee families and learns things that I have never known before. This makes me feel so grateful to be in this team.

It has only been two weeks with the team, yet I have acquired more than what I expected – be it learning about my everyday tasks, or how a catering company works – all in a very short time. My colleagues have been dragging me everywhere with them, to meetings, overseeing booths, catering events, meeting the families, etc. – which proved that they really value me and want me to learn as much as I can through first-hand experience.

I noticed that my colleagues are very hard-working, their schedule is flexible, and they almost have no weekends. However, I hardly hear them complaining because they are doing this with a mission in their mind. There was once when we were visiting a potential family and we did not know the family quite well, but they were already proposing and offering several options to help the mother and son. I was so surprised and said to myself that these three individuals are more human than I am. Honestly.

Now, I wouldn’t call Picha Project a company but rather a family. The bond that they share with every refugee family and the team is beautiful, as if they have been doing this for more than a decade. I hope I can tell everyone what I have learnt while being in this team, but it is something that a person has to get connected and experience it for him/herself. For me, working with Picha Project is becoming more exciting and full of surprises – it definitely helps me to understand better what I want to do for my future projects and understanding myself too!